Martian Fossils? Dissecting the media hype

Published: 25 November 2010(GMT+10)

NASA/JPL

Viking 1’s image that started it all in 1976.

“Area on Mars could hold fossilized remains of life”,1 “New Fossil Evidence for life on Mars?”2 or even more optimistically,
“Scientists identified signs of life on Mars”3—In a prime example of hyper-sensationalism
in journalism, these headlines describe not a cosmic archaeological dig, but the
discovery of mineral-rich clay rocks on Mars in a region called the Nili Fossae.

So what is it about this Martian clay that has these journalists practically proclaiming
the discovery of fossilized ET? According to the reports, it has some similarities
to a region of Australia “where there was buried and preserved evidence of
ancient life on earth.” “Scientists” and “experts”
think that this discovery warrants close examination of the area to see if there
are also fossils there.

Of course, fossils are only formed where there is life to begin with, and there
is no evidence that there is or ever has been life on Mars. Indeed, one of the articles
is forced to admit that “The study does not offer actual evidence of past
life; rather, it suggests a place that might have been habitable.” This is
similar to claims of that extraterrestrial life on other planets was almost a given
due to the alleged discovery of ‘earth-sized’ extrasolar planets. See
Hosing down the hype.

The preoccupation with life in space

Of course, fossils are only formed where there is life to begin with, and there
is no evidence that there is or ever has been life on Mars.

Mars has been searched for life possibly more than any other celestial object. As
far back as 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli saw thin dark lines on
Mars, and by 1908, the American astronomer Percival Lowell claimed that he had found
hundreds of canals which could have been carved out by intelligent inhabitants.
But in 1976 the Viking spacecraft failed to detect any sign of life although
some pundits claimed that Viking’s photos revealed a
‘face on Mars’, which was ‘proof’ that advanced
alien civilizations once lived there. However, later pictures taken by the Mars
Global Surveyor and the Mars Express expeditions revealed that
the structures were nothing more than naturally forming geological formations, which
when photographed at a certain angle appeared to resemble a face.

But this did not deter “true believers” in Martian life. There have
been similar over-the-top claims in the past. In Antarctica in 1996 a rock was found
which the media claimed was proof of life
on Mars. The potato-sized rock was thought to be a meteorite which was thought
to contain fossil evidence of past microbial life. But the characteristics of the
rock were entirely explainable by natural processes and are now regarded widely
as non-life by most scientists. Nonetheless, at the time US President Bill Clinton
declared, “If this discovery is confirmed, it would surely be one of the most
stunning insights into our universe that science has discovered.”

Photo by NASA

No liquid water has been found on Mars. Nevertheless, there are intriguing signs
that suggest recent flows of liquid water, like the image at left. Photographed
from space, this geologic feature shows patterns strikingly similar to those found
on Earth resulting from flowing water. The gullies comprise a deep channel with
an ‘alcove’ (collapsed area) at the top end; and an ‘apron’
at the other end, comprising debris apparently transported down the slope.

‘They could be a few million years old, but we cannot rule out that some of
them are so recent as to have formed yesterday.’—Dr Michael Malin, Principal
Investigator, Mars Orbiter Camera.

Water is a prerequisite for life

In 2001, NASA claimed that Mars may have once had an abundance of
liquid water—something that most would believe is absolutely necessary
for life to occur. Not only that, but news reports claimed that massive volcanism
in the past may have produced a “Noachian” event, which would have produced
enough water to cover the planet to a depth of 400 feet, though much of the water
would be lost to space due to the lack of an atmosphere on Mars.4 We have often pointed out the irony that scientists
have no trouble accepting a global flood on a planet that does not have a drop of
liquid water, but
not on a planet that is 2/3 covered with water (the earth!).

Even the simplest forms of life (bacteria) contain massive amounts of information
that point to an intelligent designer.

“Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe. It’s a new field
of research that covers the origin, evolution, distribution, and destiny of life—wherever
it might exist.”5

The preoccupation with extraterrestrial life has evolutionism at its core. It’s
ironic that millions and even billions of dollars are being spent in the hope of
seeing evolution occur via a few microbes on other planets. Yet, the biosphere of
Earth is abundant with an incredible variety of living organisms, and they still
can’t work out how it happened here.

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